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architecture and design magazineSun, 02 Aug 2015 17:00:12 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.2Sandstone-clad house in Wales designed by Hall + Bednarczyk to resemble local barnshttp://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/30/martin-hall-kelly-bednarczyk-nook-sandstone-clad-house-resemble-local-barns-monmouthshire-wye-valley-wales/
http://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/30/martin-hall-kelly-bednarczyk-nook-sandstone-clad-house-resemble-local-barns-monmouthshire-wye-valley-wales/#commentsThu, 30 Jul 2015 12:29:23 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=744712Hall + Bednarczyk Architects paired rugged sandstone with contemporary details to create this rural house in Wales, which pays homage to vernacular barns (+ slideshow). The Welsh studio, led by architects Martin Hall and Kelly Bednarczyk, designed the residence to replace a "drab" 1960s bungalow on a site in Monmouthshire, sitting on the Welsh side of the scenic Wye Valley. Rather than referencing the […]

The Welsh studio, led by architects Martin Hall and Kelly Bednarczyk, designed the residence to replace a "drab" 1960s bungalow on a site in Monmouthshire, sitting on the Welsh side of the scenic Wye Valley.

Rather than referencing the region's houses, the architects chose to instead base the design on farm buildings – similar to another recently completed house in the Welsh countryside.

"The design adopts the simple, confident massing evident in the region's agricultural structures, where both traditional stone barns and the spare steel-framed modern structures now used by farmers tend to possess a visual clarity and generosity of scale absent from most rural dwellings," they explained.

Named The Nook, the two-storey building features walls of sandstone, which was sourced from a quarry three miles away.

The stone was hand dressed – meaning it was worked to create smooth surfaces – and the architects expect moss and lichen to grow over it in time.

The house's steel-framed structure is also visible on the facade, alongside areas of timber panelling. These are accompanied by a simple rectilinear chimney and a tiled roof.

"Regional materials are used to help create a building that is intended to have a comfortable affinity with its setting," said Hall and Bednarczyk. "The detailing explores a number of vernacular elements and construction techniques through a modern lens."

The secluded location made it possible to create large windows, allowing residents to bring plenty of natural light into the building, as well as to open rooms out to the landscape.

The ground floor features a fairly open layout – a kitchen and dining room is on one side, a living room is located at the far end, and a children's playroom is slotted in between.

Sliding glass doors lead out to terraces from both the dining space and the living area.

The use of the steel structure also made it possible to create a void above the dining area, turning it into a double-height space. Bookshelves and storage areas are built into the walls here, as is a small seating area described by the architects as a settle.

"A built-in settle and Welsh dresser make the kitchen and dining space flexible and accommodating," said the architects.

Upstairs, there are four bedrooms – a master suite, an en-suite bedroom and two additional rooms that share a bathroom.

Wooden flooring runs throughout the house. Most spaces feature white walls, but other shades have been introduced at key moments – the wall housing the chimney is painted dark grey and the seating nook is coloured purple.

The project also include the construction of a small outhouse, creating garden storage and sheltered car parking. This is located at the entrance to the site.

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/30/martin-hall-kelly-bednarczyk-nook-sandstone-clad-house-resemble-local-barns-monmouthshire-wye-valley-wales/feed/4Flint House features rugged stone walls that gradate from smoky grey to chalky whitehttp://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/21/flint-house-skene-catling-de-la-pena-lord-jacob-rothschild-waddesdon-manor-stone/
http://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/21/flint-house-skene-catling-de-la-pena-lord-jacob-rothschild-waddesdon-manor-stone/#commentsTue, 21 Jul 2015 12:43:47 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=740352Lumps of flint give a textured facade to this English countryside residence, completed by London firm Skene Catling de la Peña for one of the world's richest families (+ slideshow). Located in the grounds of Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, Flint House is a house and annex commissioned by Jacob Rothschild, lord of the estate and […]

]]>Lumps of flint give a textured facade to this English countryside residence, completed by London firm Skene Catling de la Peña for one of the world's richest families (+ slideshow).

Located in the grounds of Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, Flint House is a house and annex commissioned by Jacob Rothschild, lord of the estate and head of the historic banking family. His brief was to provide accommodation for a visiting art curator.

The site is located over the chalk fissure that extends down from Norfolk to the cliffs of Dover, which prompted Skene Catling de la Peña to develop a design around the use of flint – a sedimentary rock that often appears as nodules in chalk.

"Flint is an ancient material related to jasper, obsidian and onyx; a hard, cryptocrystalline form of quartz found in one geological seam in the UK, and in abundance on the surface of the ploughed fields surrounding the site," said the architects.

The material was used to clad the walls of both buildings. But rather than using pieces of flint at random, they were sorted into layers of tone, with darker strata at the bottom. Towards the top, they become chalky white to match the pale terrazzo roofs.

"The lowest courses of flint are blackest and rough hewn with large gallets in black mortar joints," said the team.

"The walls and terrazzo roofs fade in six coloured strata as the flint progresses up the building, from galleted black through finely knapped greys, and finally into courses of long, narrow blocks of white chalk, where the building appears to dissolve into the sky."

The two buildings are both triangular in profile, and they angle away from one another – like two hills with a valley in between.

The terrazzo tiles covering the rooftops create steps leading up to viewing platforms, offering views out over the area's expansive meadows. There are also various openings, which form sunken rooftop gardens.

"The Flint House and annex form two stepped, linear monoliths that appear pulled from the landscape as geological extrusions of infinite age, with the rough texture and rawness of their surroundings," explained the architects.

"The buildings are both viewing platforms and condensing lenses for the surrounding panorama," they added.

The rock analogy also continues inside the main house – a grotto-like space features walls of flint nodules that have been left uncut to reveal their knobbly forms.

This space also houses a pool of water that runs right through the building. A ceiling of black glass reflects the water, intended to create the illusion of infinite space.

Other rooms in this 465-square-metre building include a dining room, a kitchen, a library and study, and three bedrooms, all distributed across two storeys. The 115-square-metre annex contains a two-level studio apartment.

"The programme moves from the utilitarian and open spaces at the centre of the site to more contemplative, private rooms buried in the existing trees at the far ends of each building," added the designers.

"The internal 'river' carves a mysterious, internal cave through the structure that separates the public spaces from the more introspective, with views across water, through fire and expanded in reflections."

Waddesdon Manor was first built in the 19th century as a weekend home for the Rothschild family. Today the estate is administered by a charitable trust overseen by Jacob Rothschild, whose penchant for contemporary art and architecture has led to works by David Hockney, Richard Long and Sarah Lucas being installed in the building and grounds.

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/21/flint-house-skene-catling-de-la-pena-lord-jacob-rothschild-waddesdon-manor-stone/feed/12David Chipperfield's Fayland House conceived as a "large earthwork" in the English countrysidehttp://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/08/david-chipperfields-fayland-house-chiltern-hills-england-white-brick/
http://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/08/david-chipperfields-fayland-house-chiltern-hills-england-white-brick/#commentsWed, 08 Jul 2015 22:00:38 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=734469Pale white brickwork, broad columns and a courtyard planted with trees are all features of this country house in the Chiltern Hills by architect David Chipperfield, which was recently named the world's best new house (+ slideshow). Designed by the British architect for a property developer and his wife in Buckinghamshire, Fayland House is a […]

]]>Pale white brickwork, broad columns and a courtyard planted with trees are all features of this country house in the Chiltern Hills by architect David Chipperfield, which was recently named the world's best new house (+ slideshow).

Designed by the British architect for a property developer and his wife in Buckinghamshire, Fayland House is a single-storey residence that stretches across a dip in the landscape.

The house is located in the Chiltern Hills, a densely wooded chalk escarpment of over 300 square miles. Responding to this, the building was conceived as a "large earthwork" dug into the sloping ground.

Its roof is set down well below the level of the tree canopy, while four sunken courtyards are concealed behind the walls.

"This array of structures, together with hard landscaping, had accumulated in an ad-hoc manner with little relationship to each other or to their environment," said the design team. "The development presented an opportunity to restore a typical landscape by removing all conflicting features that had been superimposed onto it."

To negotiate the changing levels of the ground, the house is built on a 60-metre-wide plinth. The studio describes its as being "like a dam sitting on the cusp of the slope".

A colonnade framed by 11 round columns extends along the entire length of the facade, creating a sheltered outdoor space that connects with many of the rooms inside the building.

An opening towards one end leads through to the largest of the house's four courtyards, which forms the main entrance. It features a paved surface, three trees and more sheltered terrace spaces.

The walls, the columns and the plinth were all built using a custom-made white brick, set into a lime mortar that was applied thickly then sponged off to leave a thin residue behind.

"The white colour of the bricks and the lime mortar is reminiscent of the chalk beneath the house," said the team. "On the one hand the house appears as a natural escarpment in the landscape, while on the other it affirms itself as a man-made structure expressed by the robust brick columns placed in front."

These brick walls have also been left exposed inside the house, sandwiched between an exposed concrete soffit and a polished terrazzo floor.

The main living room sits between the colonnade and the courtyard, allowing plenty of natural daylight and ventilation.

Other spaces, including the kitchen, dining and bedroom areas are arranged around the smaller courtyards, while rooms for guests are kept separate on the opposite side of the building.

Fayland House was completed in 2013, but received the AR House award in June. The prize was judged by a panel including architects Adam Caruso of British firm Caruso St John and Sofia von Ellrichshausen of Chilean practice Pezo von Ellrichshausen.

"Fayland House places a very large house in a special landscape without disappearing," said Caruso. "The domestic outdoor spaces, which have always been an issue in English country houses, are in courtyards, which is an innovation."

"It takes normal elements and manipulates them," added Von Ellrichshausen. "That colonnade in the front and the way it modulates the scale on the landscape is very interesting."

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/08/david-chipperfields-fayland-house-chiltern-hills-england-white-brick/feed/15Twin wooden houses by Adam Knibb Architects are raised up above street levelhttp://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/04/cedar-lodges-adam-knibb-architects-semi-detached-timber-houses-england/
http://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/04/cedar-lodges-adam-knibb-architects-semi-detached-timber-houses-england/#commentsSat, 04 Jul 2015 05:00:40 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=731191This pair of gabled homes in Winchester, England, are described by architect Adam Knibb as "contemporary timber pods on top of a dark monolithic base" (+ slideshow). The semi-detached Cedar Lodges are located on a plot previously occupied by a dilapidated garage. Knibb, who is based locally, was asked by a developer to create a pair of modern homes that respect the visual […]

]]>This pair of gabled homes in Winchester, England, are described by architect Adam Knibb as "contemporary timber pods on top of a dark monolithic base" (+ slideshow).

The semi-detached Cedar Lodges are located on a plot previously occupied by a dilapidated garage.

Knibb, who is based locally, was asked by a developer to create a pair of modern homes that respect the visual style of the neighbouring buildings, but also avoid looking directly into a house across the street.

"The developer didn't have a particular specification in mind about what type of house it should be, which was good because it allowed us to think quite dramatically about what we could put into the area to enhance it," Knibb told Dezeen.

The project team worked closely with the developers and local planners to create a building they felt could become a case study promoting contemporary architecture in the area.

The typical terraced properties in the neighbourhood feature narrow frontages and a main volume that extends away from the street. The architects replicated this format, so the building's impact on the street is reduced.

The two houses occupy the entire depth of their relatively narrow plot, with outdoor spaces incorporated at the sides rather than the front or back. These take the form of small gardens and decked areas accessed through the kitchens.

Parking and the main entrances are integrated in a podium at street level, which is painted a dark shade that continues the tone of the other elements connecting the houses with the street.

"These contemporary timber pods sit on top of the dark monolithic base," said Knibb, "so it looks as if it's rising out of the ground and there's this lightweight timber structure clipped onto it."

The site is tucked into the side of a tree-lined hill, which informed the decision to clad the majority of the facades in timber.

"We wanted to mimic the trees behind so we used cedar that will turn silver over time, and oriented it vertically so it will blend in with the background," Knibb added.

A distinct datum is formed by the junction between the podium and the wood-clad units, as well as the line where the timber cladding meets the roof. Recessed downpipes between the houses help to separate the forms and give each property a clear identity.

The topography of the street means there is a drop in the level towards the opposite side, so the architects introduced trinagles of glazing below the roof that reduce the visual mass, but also prevent views down into the house opposite.

"The glazed apexes still allow views to the sky without overlooking," Knibb explained.

"We also worked very hard at keeping the roof form really thin, with most of the structure behind the glass so it appears as a folded form over the top of the two timber-clad elements."

The majority of openings are positioned in the side elevations to ensure privacy to the internal spaces. In the rear bedrooms, angled windows projecting from the facade provide natural light and controlled views.

The main living areas feature an open-plan layout that helps to maximise natural light, while carefully positioned skylights illuminate the bathrooms and stairwells.

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/04/cedar-lodges-adam-knibb-architects-semi-detached-timber-houses-england/feed/4PriceGore adds a yellow-framed extension to an east-London artist's homehttp://www.dezeen.com/2015/06/15/pricegore-artists-home-dalston-east-london-glass-timber-shopfront-extension-yellow-frames/
http://www.dezeen.com/2015/06/15/pricegore-artists-home-dalston-east-london-glass-timber-shopfront-extension-yellow-frames/#commentsMon, 15 Jun 2015 07:00:20 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=720131This artists' home in Dalston has been updated with a yellow-framed kitchen extension in the back garden and a traditional glass and timber "shopfront". London architecture studio PriceGore was asked to renovate and extend the house in Dalston, east London, which the two artist clients had purchased in a derelict condition six years prior. The clients had renovated […]

]]>This artists' home in Dalston has been updated with a yellow-framed kitchen extension in the back garden and a traditional glass and timber "shopfront".

London architecture studio PriceGore was asked to renovate and extend the house in Dalston, east London, which the two artist clients had purchased in a derelict condition six years prior.

The clients had renovated the two upper floors of the house themselves and were using the ground floor as a studio. But more significant works were needed to convert the windowless basement into further studio space and to create a new kitchen.

The architects added a glazed entrance to the street-facing facade of the house to increase natural light in the studio. They also added the yellow-framed extension in the back garden of the property to provide a new kitchen, and created new openings in the basement.

"The project is conceived as a pair of complementary interventions, each comprising a staircase, a glazed screen, and a tree," explained practice co-founders Dingle Price and Alex Gore.

"To the front, the screen forms a new 'shopfront'. To the rear, the glazed screen forms a facade for the kitchen extension and a concrete stair connects the two levels of the yard."

The "shopfront" – so called because it makes the interior visible from the street – features large windows and double doors supported by a Meranti hardwood frame.

Dilapidated outbuildings and undergrowth were removed from the back garden to make way for the kitchen extension, which also features large areas of glazing framed by Meranti wood. This framework was painted yellow to distinguish the new structure from the original brick building.

The structure occupies part of the garden, which sits halfway between the ground floor and the basement.

Old pine boards were used for the kitchen floor, while cabinetry is made from reclaimed maple wood that once lined the floor of a school gymnasium – a material already owned by the client.

"The decision to make the screen from painted timber is in relation to the historic timber windows of the house," Price told Dezeen.

"Although different in appearance, there is a desire for an underlying familiarity which serves to integrate the project in its context. The reclaimed materials are also a strategy of sustainability."

Brick planters for a pair of trees were built in both the front and back gardens, which are covered in reclaimed cobbles and recycled teak decking respectively.

"The idea of using brick and cobbles was to give back to the front of the house some of the grain and tactility that had been lost by the previous coating of render," said Price.

A window was added to the lightless basement level and an entrance to the garden was tucked under the stairs of the new kitchen.